Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, ''

'', from 1987 to 2000. His characters have spawned a sequel series, ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

'', and a prequel series, '' Endeavour''.

Early life and career

Dexter was born in

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

, to Alfred and Dorothy Dexter. He had an elder brother, John, a fellow classicist, who taught

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

The King's School, Peterborough Founded by King Henry VIII, The King's (The Cathedral) School is a state-funded Church of England school located in Peterborough, England. Although for centuries a boys-only grammar school, "Kings" is now mixed and has a Junior Department in M ...

, and a sister, Avril. Alfred ran a small garage and taxi company from premises in Scotgate, Stamford. Dexter was educated at St. John's Infants School, Bluecoat Junior School, from which he gained a scholarship to

Stamford School Stamford School is an independent school for boys in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the English public school tradition. Founded in 1532, it has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1920. With the girls-only S ...

, a boys' public school, where one of his contemporaries was the England international cricket captain and England international rugby player

M. J. K. Smith Michael John Knight Smith , better known as M. J. K. Smith or Mike Smith, (born 30 June 1933) is an English former cricketer who was captain of Oxford University Cricket Club (1956), Warwickshire County Cricket Club (1957–1967) and ...

. After leaving school, Dexter completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

and then read Classics at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, graduating in 1953 and receiving a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1958. In 1954, Dexter began his teaching career in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

, becoming assistant Classics master at Wyggeston School,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. There he helped the Christian Union school society. However, in 2000 he stated that he shared the same views on politics and religion as Inspector Morse, who was portrayed in the final Morse novel, ''

The Remorseful Day ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', as an atheist. A post at

Loughborough Grammar School , religion = Christian , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dr Daniel Koch , r_head_label = Chaplain , r_head = Revd E J York , chair_label = Chairman ...

followed in 1957 before he took up the position of senior Classics teacher at Corby Grammar School,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

, in 1959. In 1966, he was forced by the onset of deafness to retire from teaching and took up the post of senior assistant secretary at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Delegacy of Local Examinations (UODLE) in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, a job he held until his retirement in 1988. In November 2008, Dexter featured prominently in the BBC programme "How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword" as part of the ''Time Shift'' series, in which he recounted some of the crossword clues solved by Morse.

Writing career

The initial books written by Dexter were general studies textbooks. He began writing mysteries in 1972 during a family holiday. ''

Last Bus to Woodstock ''Last Bus to Woodstock'' is a Crime fiction, crime novel by Colin Dexter, the first of 13 novels in his Inspector Morse series. Plot summary Two young women are waiting in Oxford for a bus to the nearby town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Woodstoc ...

'' was published in 1975 and introduced the character of

, the irascible detective whose penchants for

cryptic crossword A cryptic crossword is a crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, includi ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

, and music by composer

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

reflected Dexter's own enthusiasms. Dexter's plots used false leads and other

red herring A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fi ...

s, "presenting Morse, and his readers, with fiendishly difficult puzzles to solve". The success of the 33 two-hour episodes of the ITV television series ''

'', produced between 1987 and 2000, brought further attention to Dexter's writings. The show featured Inspector Morse, played by

John Thaw John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series '' Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...

, and his assistant Sergeant Robert Lewis, played by

Kevin Whately Kevin Whately (born 6 February 1951) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Neville "Nev" Hope in the British comedy drama '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'', Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas '' Inspector Morse'' 1987–2000 an ...

. In the manner of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, Dexter made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in almost all episodes. From 2006 to 2015, Morse's assistant Lewis was featured in a 33-episode ITV series titled ''

'' (''Inspector Lewis'' in the United States). Lewis is assisted by DS James Hathaway, played by

Laurence Fox Laurence Paul Fox (born 1978) is a political activist and former actor, most well-known for playing the supporting role of DS James Hathaway in the British TV drama series '' Lewis'' from 2006 to 2015. A grandson of the actors Robin and Ange ...

. A prequel series, '' Endeavour'', features a young Morse and stars Shaun Evans and

Roger Allam Roger William Allam (born 26 October 1953) is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical '' Les Misérables'', First Officer ...

and began airing on the ITV network in 2012. ''Endeavour'' has aired eight series, including the pilot episode, with the ninth and final series scheduled to air later in 2022, taking young Morse's career into 1972. Dexter was a consultant for both Lewis and the first few years of Endeavour. As with ''Morse'', Dexter occasionally made cameo appearances in both ''Lewis'' and ''Endeavour''. Although Dexter's military service was as a

Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one ...

operator in the

, the character was named for his friend Sir

Jeremy Morse Sir Christopher Jeremy Morse KCMG (10 December 1928 – 4 February 2016) was an English banker, cruciverbalist and chess composer who was Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 1989 to 2003, and was chairman of Lloyds Bank. Early life a ...

, a crossword devotee like Dexter. The music for the television series, written by

Barrington Pheloung Barrington Somers James Pheloung (10 May 1954 – 1 August 2019) was an Australian composer based in the United Kingdom. He composed several television theme tunes and music, particularly for ''Inspector Morse'' and its follow-up series, ''Lewi ...

, used a motif based on the Morse code for Morse's name.

Awards and honours

Dexter received several

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

awards: two Silver Daggers for '' Service of All the Dead'' in 1979 and '' The Dead of Jericho'' in 1981; two

Gold Dagger The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. From ...

s for ''

The Wench is Dead ''The Wench Is Dead'' is a historical crime novel by Colin Dexter, the eighth novel in the Inspector Morse series. The novel received the Gold Dagger Award in 1989. Plot summary In 1859, the body of a young woman was found floating in the Oxfor ...

'' in 1989 and '' The Way Through the Woods'' in 1992; and a Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in 1997. In 1996, Dexter received a

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' ...

for his short story "Evans Tries an O-Level". In 1980, he was elected a member of the by-invitation-only

Detection Club The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. ...

. In 2005 Dexter became a Fellow by Special Election of

St Cross College, Oxford St Cross College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1965, St Cross is an all-graduate college with gothic and traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street. It ...

. In 2000 Dexter was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for services to literature. In 2001 he was awarded the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Oxford. In September 2011, the

University of Lincoln , mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom , established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 � ...

awarded Dexter an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

degree.

Personal life

In 1956 he married Dorothy Cooper. They had a daughter, Sally, and a son, Jeremy.

Death

On 21 March 2017 Dexter's publisher,

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, said in a statement "With immense sadness, Macmillan announces the death of Colin Dexter who died peacefully at his home in Oxford this morning."

Bibliography

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
novels

# ''

'' (1975) # '' Last Seen Wearing'' (1976) # ''

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn ''The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn'' is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the third novel in Inspector Morse series. Synopsis The Oxford Foreign Examinations Syndicate runs school exams in the Persian Gulf and other places with a British conne ...

'' (1977) # '' Service of All the Dead'' (1979) # '' The Dead of Jericho'' (1981) # ''

The Riddle of the Third Mile ''The Riddle of the Third Mile'' is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the sixth novel in Inspector Morse series. Plot summary The novel is divided into three books - the first mile, the second mile and the third mile. The title is a reference ...

'' (1983) # '' The Secret of Annexe 3'' (1986) # ''

'' (1989) # '' The Jewel That Was Ours'' (1991) # '' The Way Through the Woods'' (1992) # '' The Daughters of Cain'' (1994) # '' Death Is Now My Neighbour'' (1996) # ''

'' (1999)

Novellas and short story collections

* ''The Inside Story'' (1993) * ''Neighbourhood Watch'' (1993) * '' Morse's Greatest Mystery'' (1993); also published as ''As Good as Gold'' *# "As Good as Gold" (Morse) *# "Morse's Greatest Mystery" (Morse) *# "Evans Tries an O-Level" *# "Dead as a Dodo" (Morse) *# "At the Lulu-Bar Motel" *# "Neighbourhood Watch" (Morse) *# "A Case of Mis-Identity" (a Sherlock Holmes pastiche) *# "The Inside Story" (Morse) *# "Monty's Revolver" *# "The Carpet-Bagger" *# "Last Call" (Morse)

Uncollected short stories

* "The Burglar" in ''You,

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'' (1994) * "The Double Crossing" in ''Mysterious Pleasures'' (2003) * "Between the Lines" in ''The Detection Collection'' (2005) * "The Case of the Curious Quorum" (featuring Inspector Lewis) in ''The Verdict of Us All'' (2006) * "The Other Half" in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'' (February–May 2007) * "Morse and the Mystery of the Drunken Driver" in ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' (December 2008) * "Clued Up" (a 4-page story featuring Lewis and Morse solving a crossword) in ''Cracking Cryptic Crosswords'' (2009) * " Evans Tries an O-Level Exam"(A 8 page story featuring a kleptomaniac boy named Evans)

Other

* Foreword to ''Chambers Crossword Manual'' (2001) * ''Chambers Book of Morse Crosswords'' (2006) * Foreword to ''Oxford: A Cultural and Literary History'' (2007) * ''Cracking Cryptic Crosswords: A Guide to Solving Cryptic Crosswords'' (2010) * Foreword to ''Oxford Through the Lens'' (2016)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dexter, Colin 1930 births 2017 deaths People from Stamford, Lincolnshire People educated at Stamford School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Cartier Diamond Dagger winners English crime fiction writers English male novelists English mystery writers Detective fiction writers Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford Writers from Oxford Inspector Morse Macavity Award winners Members of the Detection Club Officers of the Order of the British Empire Crossword compilers Royal Corps of Signals soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel